Rufus Wainwright

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Biography

Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.

Life and career

Early years

Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York , to folk singers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III . His parents divorced when he was three, and he lived with his mother in Montreal for most of his youth. Wainwright has dual US and Canadian citizenship. He attended high school at the Millbrook School in New York (which would later inspire his song "Millbrook"), and later briefly studied piano at both Concordia University (Montreal)|Concordia and McGill University|McGill Universities in Montreal. He began playing the piano at age six, and started touring at 13 with "The McGarrigle Sisters and Family", a folk group featuring Rufus, his sister Martha Wainwright|Martha , his mother Kate, and aunt Anna McGarrigle|Anna . His song "I'm a-Runnin'", which he performed in the film Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller at the age of 14, earned him a nomination for a 10th Genie Awards|1989 Genie Awards|Genie Award for Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music - Original Song|Best Original Song . He was nominated for a Juno Awards of 1990|1990 Juno Award for Juno Award for Artist of the Year|Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year .

Wainwright acknowledged that he was gay while a teenager. In 1999, he told Rolling Stone that his father recognized his homosexuality early on. "We'd drive around in the car, he'd play ' Heart of Glass (song)|Heart of Glass ' and I'd sort of mouth the words, pretend to be Blondie (band)|Blondie . Just a sign of many other things to come as well." Wainwright later said in another interview that his "mother and father could not even handle me being gay. We never talked about it really."

Wainwright became interested in opera during his adolescent years, and the genre strongly influences his music. (For instance, the song "Barcelona" features lyrics from the libretto of Giuseppe Verdi 's opera, Macbeth (opera)|Macbeth .) During this time, he became interested in Édith Piaf , Al Jolson , and Judy Garland .

At 14, Wainwright was sexually assaulted in London's Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park after picking up a man at a bar. He has been reported to have stated that he remained celibacy|celibate for five, or seven years, after the incident, and eventually became promiscuous. In an interview years later, he described the event: "I said I wanted to go to the park and see where this big concert was going on. I thought it was going to be a romantic walk in the park, but he raped me and robbed me afterwards and tried to strangle me". Wainwright states that he survived only by pretending to be an epilepsy|epileptic and faking a seizure.

In 2009 the unofficial biography There Will Be Rainbows: A Biography of Rufus Wainwright and the story of Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle by Kirk Lake documented Wainwright's early struggles.

Rise to fame, debut album

Through weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo, Wainwright was on the Montreal club circuit and eventually cut a series of demo tapes produced by Pierre Marchand , who later produced Wainwright's album Poses (album)|Poses . The resulting tapes impressed his father Loudon, who passed them on to his friend Van Dyke Parks . Parks sent the recordings to Lenny Waronker , the DreamWorks executive who eventually signed Wainwright to his label. Waronker stated the following of Wainwright: "When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, 'Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice.' Then I put it on and I said, 'Oh, my God, this is stunning.'"

The singer moved to New York City in 1996, performing regularly at Club Fez. He relocated to Los Angeles that year and began his first studio album, 1998's Rufus Wainwright (album)|Rufus Wainwright . Waronker paired Wainwright with producer Jon Brion , and the two spent most of 1996 and 1997 making the record. Wainwright recorded 56 songs in total, on 62 rolls of tape. The sessions cost $700,000.

Wainwright's self-titled debut received critical acclaim; Rolling Stone recognized it as one of the best albums of the year, and named the singer "Best New Artist" of the year. Wainwright was nominated for four awards by the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards, including Album of the Year, Pop Recording of the Year and Video of the Year, and won for Best New Artist. Rufus Wainwright won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Album and a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. However, commercial success of the album was limited; the debut failed to chart in any country, though he ranked No.24 on Billboard s Top Heatseekers chart.

Wainwright toured with Sean Lennon in 1998 and began his first headline tour later that year. In December 1998, he appeared in a Gap (clothing)|Gap commercial directed by Phil Harder , performing Frank Loesser 's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? ". In March 1999, Wainwright began a headlining tour at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken , New Jersey.

Poses and struggle with addiction

Wainwright lived in the Hotel Chelsea|Chelsea Hotel in New York City for six months, during which he wrote most of his second album. On June 5, 2001, Wainwright's second album, Poses (album)| Poses , was released to critical acclaim but limited sales. The album ranked No.117 on the Billboard 200| Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Top Heatseekers chart. Poses won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Album, a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album, and was nominated by the Juno Awards for Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year|Best Songwriter ("Poses" / " Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk " / "Grey Gardens"). From 2001 to 2004, he toured with Tori Amos , Sting (musician)|Sting , Ben Folds , and Guster , as well as headlining the 2001 and 2002 tour in support of the album.

Wainwright became addicted to Methamphetamine|crystal meth in the early 2000s and temporarily lost his vision. His addiction reached its peak in 2002, during what he described as "the most surreal week of my life." During that week, he played a cameo role in the UK comedy television program, Absolutely Fabulous , spent several nights partying with George W. Bush 's daughter Barbara Pierce Bush|Barbara , enjoyed a "debauched evening" with his mother and Marianne Faithfull , sang with Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons for Zaldy's spring 2003 collection, and experienced recurring hallucinations of his father throughout. He decided after that he "was either going to rehab or I was going to live with my father. I knew I needed an asshole to yell at me, and I felt he fit the bill."

Want albums

Wainwright's album Want Two , from which four songs were released as the EP Waiting for a Want , was released by DreamWorks / Geffen Records|Geffen on November 16, 2004. It is a companion or sequel to the 2003 release, Want One . Afterward, a live iTunes Sessions Extended play|EP entitled Alright, Already: Live in Montréal was released on March 15, 2005. A DVD entitled All I Want (Rufus Wainwright DVD)|All I Want , featuring a biographical documentary, music videos, and live performances, was released internationally in 2005. That same year, Wainwright made two major contributions as a solo vocalist to a pair of records: Mercury Music Prize|the Mercury Prize -winning Antony and the Johnsons ' I Am a Bird Now|I am a Bird Now and Burt Bacharach 's At This Time .

Want One and Want Two were repackaged as Want (Rufus Wainwright album)|Want for a November 2005 release to coincide with the beginning of a British tour. This version of Want One contains two extra songs: "Es Muß Sein" and "Velvet Curtain Rag". The Want package in the UK has two bonus tracks: "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" (a Leonard Cohen cover) and "In With the Ladies", which replace "Coeur de Parisienne – Reprise d'Arletty" and "Quand Vous Mourez de Nos Amours" from 2004's augmented edition.

Release the Stars and Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall

Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars , was released by Geffen Records|Geffen on May 15, 2007. The album was produced by Wainwright and featured Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson , friend Teddy Thompson , sister Martha Wainwright , mother Kate McGarrigle , Neil Tennant , Joan Wasser , Julianna Raye, Larry Mullins (professionally known as Toby Dammit ), and actress Siân Phillips . It reached No.2 on the UK Albums Chart , and debuted at No.23 on the Billboard 200| Billboard 200 . The first single, " Going to a Town ", was released on April 3, 2007 in the iTunes Store|iTunes Music Store . The second single released was " Rules and Regulations (song)|Rules and Regulations ", and the third single was a 500-copy (12" vinyl) release of " Tiergarten (song)|Tiergarten ", a one-track EP with the Supermayer remix of Tiergarten , which was released exclusively through iTunes and 7digital on October 29.

Two video clips were released for the album: "Going to a Town", directed by Sophie Muller , and "Rules and Regulations", directed by Petro Papahadjopoulos and styled by J.W. Anderson. Release the Stars was certified gold in the UK. The accompanying world tour saw Wainwright visit North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, ending on February 14, 2008 with a concert at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

On June 10, 2006, National Public Radio|NPR 's Weekend Edition|Weekend Edition Saturday broadcast an interview of Wainwright by Scott Simon . The segment concerned Wainwright's sold-out pair of Carnegie Hall shows on June 14 and 15, 2006 in which he performed the entire Judy Garland concert album that was recorded there in 1961. He later repeated his performance at the London Palladium , the Paris Olympia , and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Live CD and DVD recordings of the concerts were released on December 4, 2007. The DVD is entitled Rufus& #33; Rufus& #33; Rufus& #33; Does Judy& #33; Judy& #33; Judy!: Live from the London Palladium . The CD album, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall , is a recording of his show at the legendary New York venue. In 2008, Garland's daughter Lorna Luft expressed strong approval of Wainwright's recordings of her mother's songs. The album was nominated for a 51st Grammy Awards|2009 Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album|Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album .

Blackoutsabbath and Prima Donna

As the sun sets on the evening of Blackoutsabbath, participants write ways they can contribute to the Earth 's well-being throughout the rest of the year. Annual benefit concert s take place to raise awareness of the cause. Special guests performing at the concert included Joan Wasser, Jenni Muldaur, and friend and fellow singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson . The organization's official site contains updates about the program and contains links to various tools, Ethical consumerism|green products and services , studies, and groups that promote energy conservation and environmental protection .

Following his 2007–2008 tour, Wainwright began writing his first opera, Prima Donna (opera)|Prima Donna , about "a day in the life of an opera singer ", anxiously preparing for her comeback, who falls in love with a journalist. There are four fictional character|characters , and the libretto is in French. The opera was originally commissioned by Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb . However, because of a dispute over Wainwright's decision to write the libretto in French and the Met's inability to schedule an opening in the 2009 season, Wainwright and the Met ended their relationship. Instead of a New York opening, Prima Donna was staged during the Manchester International Festival , where the first performance took place at the Palace Theatre, Manchester|Palace Theatre on July 10, 2009. Reviews for the performance were mixed, with one publication suggesting Wainwright "may struggle to convince critics he is worthy of a place among the greats". Prima Donna won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical/Opera in June 2011.

In December 2008 Rufus performed alongside his sister, Martha Wainwright , and mother Kate McGarrigle as well as many more of his family at the Knitting Factory in downtown Manhattan.
Joined by other artists such as Grammy Award-winner Emmylou Harris , Velvet Underground front man Lou Reed and famed performance artist Laurie Anderson, the eclectic cast performed original and traditional Christmas-themed songs. In November 2009 Revelation Films released the concert on DVD.

All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu and birth of daughter

In November 2009, Wainwright announced that he had finished recording his sixth studio album, and was calling it All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu . The album was released on March 23 in Canada, April 5 in the UK and April 20 in the US, with the first single "Who Are You New York? ".

In December 2009, Wainwright appeared with sister Martha Wainwright and mother Kate McGarrigle at the Royal Albert Hall in London, raising $55,000 for the Kate McGarrigle Fund, which was established in 2008 to raise awareness of sarcoma , a rare cancer that affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle, nerves, and cartilage. It was the last performance made by his mother before her death in January 2010.

In late 2010 Wainwright became engaged to his partner Jörn Weisbrodt .

In 2011, Wainwright announced that he and Leonard Cohen 's daughter, Lorca Cohen, had had a child. He announced on his website: "Darling daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen was born on February 2, 2011 in Los Angeles, California to proud parents Lorca Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, and Deputy Dad Jorn Weisbrodt. The little angel is evidently healthy, presumably happy, and certainly very very beautiful."

In July 2011 a 19-disc box set called House of Rufus containing all his studio and live recordings as well as previously unreleased material was released.

Wainwright is currently working on a new album with producer Mark Ronson . Wainwright claims the new material is more "danceable" than his previous material. The album, titled Out of the Game is currently in the mixing process and is expected to be released next spring.

Political

Wainwright identifies as "a complete Libertarianism|libertarian ", and has stated, "I don't think any government should encroach on what goes on in the bedroom at all."

In April 2010, Wainwright came out publicly in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States because he wishes to marry his partner, Jörn Weisbrodt. Wainwright stated, "I wasn't a huge gay marriage supporter before I met Jörn because I love the whole old-school promiscuous Oscar Wilde freak show of what 'being gay' once was. But since meeting Jörn that all changed."

Music

In addition to his tenor singing voice, he plays piano and guitar, often switching between the two instruments when performing live. While some songs feature just Wainwright and his piano, his later work is often accompanied by rock instrumentation or a symphony orchestra, displaying complex layering and harmony|harmonies with an operatic feel. Wainwright is an opera fan and likes Franz Schubert 's Lieder . Some of Wainwright's songs are described as " popera " (pop opera) or " baroque pop ". Many of his compositions are densely packed amalgams of strings, horns, operatic choruses, ragtime rhythms, with a warm vocal timbre.

He often performs with his sister, Martha Wainwright, on backup vocals. Despite critical acclaim, Wainwright has experienced limited commercial success in the United States, although the release of Release the Stars saw increased media attention there, as did the associated 2007 U.S. tour.

Themes

Wainwright's oeuvre contains several recurring themes: opera, literature, pop culture, politics, and love (often unrequited love ). "Foolish Love" and "Danny Boy" are about a crush he once had on a straight guy. There Will Be Rainbows , page 72 Other songs address full-blown love and the consequences of falling out of love ("This Love Affair", "Leaving for Paris", and "Peach Trees").

Wainwright also sings about his family relationships. "Beauty Mark", "Little Sister" and "Martha", and "Dinner at Eight" address, respectively, his experiences with his mother, sisters, and father.

The song "Matinee Idol" was written about River Phoenix . There Will Be Rainbows , page 73 "Memphis Skyline" is a tribute to the late singer Jeff Buckley , whom he met briefly in the 1990s when Wainwright was an up-and-coming act. By this time, Buckley had already released his first album Grace (Jeff Buckley album)|Grace , and was well on his way to stardom. The two met several months prior to Buckley's drowning, during a gig by Wainwright. The song references " Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)|Hallelujah ", a Leonard Cohen song covered by Buckley (and later by Wainwright). There Will Be Rainbows , page 97 "Nobody's Off the Hook" is written to close friend and fellow musician Teddy Thompson . There Will Be Rainbows , page 246

Several songs deal with his experiences with addiction ("Go Or Go Ahead" and " I Don't Know What It Is ").

Work in film, television, and theatre

Wainwright has appeared in the films The Aviator (2004 film)|The Aviator and Heights (film)|Heights in addition to his role in Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller but said in a 2010 interview "I definitely enjoy seeing myself thirty feet high, but it’s not something that I’m running toward passionately". He has also recorded tracks specially for films, including Brokeback Mountain , I Am Sam|I am Sam , Moulin Rouge! , Shrek , Meet the Robinsons , Big Daddy (1999 film)|Big Daddy , Zoolander , and '' Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man . His recording of " Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered " plays during the closing credits of the film The History Boys (film)|The History Boys . He is seen in the Denys Arcand film, L'Âge des ténèbres|L’Âge des ténèbres , performing two aria s.

The All I Want (Rufus Wainwright DVD)|All I Want DVD, released in 2005, features a full-length documentary ( A Portrait of Rufus Wainwright ), performances at Central Park Summerstage|SummerStage and Cambridge Corn Exchange , studio sessions, music videos, and two bonus Easter egg (media)|Easter egg s: a 12-minute documentary from 1998, featuring Wainwright and his family, and a short tribute to the Kate and Anna McGarrigle|McGarrigle sisters featuring Rufus and Martha.

In February 2005, the Pennsylvania Ballet premiered a ballet by Matthew Neenan that was set to Wainwright's music. The Pennsylvania Ballet has performed the work (titled 11:11 ) several times, including during an eponymous program in June 2006. It has been an audience favorite, although critical reviews have been mixed.

Stephen Petronio commissioned Wainwright to write a score for his dance production BLOOM , which was performed at Joyce Theater in New York in April 2006. For the lyrics, the two selected poems by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson , and Petronio arranged for the Young People's Choir of New York to sing them.

In May 2006, Wainwright was one of three guests (along with Robbie Williams and Frances Barber ) to star with the Pet Shop Boys in a concert at London's Mermaid Theatre . He covered the Pet Shop Boys' "Casanova in Hell" (from Fundamental (Pet Shop Boys album)|Fundamental ). The critically acclaimed show was broadcast on the UK's BBC Radio 2 and repeated on BBC 6 Music , and released as a CD ( Concrete (Pet Shop Boys album)|Concrete ) in October 2006.

In June 2007, Wainwright was a part of the multi-artist True Colors Tour 2007|True Colors Tour , which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the Logo (TV channel)|Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007. Hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper , the tour included Debbie Harry , The Gossip , the Indigo Girls , The Dresden Dolls , The MisShapes , and Erasure . Profits went to the Human Rights Campaign . In August 2007, Wainwright said that he considered it a "great honor" to perform on the gay rights tour.

Wainwright continued to tour during 2007 and embraced forms of expression not usually part of mainstream American music concerts. These included dressing in red lipstick and stiletto heeled shoes to perform Judy Garland songs, and expressing his concerns against the current U.S. political situation. His performances were critically acclaimed.

In April 2009, Wainwright worked with the Berliner Ensemble and the avant-garde director Robert Wilson (director)|Robert Wilson , who hired Wainwright to supply the music for a joint staging of Shakespeares Sonette based on Shakespeare's sonnets .

Discography

Rufus Wainwright (album)|Rufus Wainwright (1998)

Poses (album)|Poses (2001)

Want One (2003)

Want Two (2004)

Release the Stars (2007)

Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007)

Milwaukee at Last!!! (2009)

All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)

House of Rufus (2011)

Out of the Game (2012)

Awards and nominations

Rufus Wainwright won two Juno Award s for Best Alternative Album , one in 1999 for Rufus Wainwright and one in 2002 for Poses . Note: User must define search parameters as "Rufus Wainwright".

At the age of 15, in 1989, he was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Original Song . A year later he received a nomination for a Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist . He was also nominated for a Brit Awards|BRIT Award for Best International Male Artist in 2008 and a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album|Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2009.

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